10.12 Compound verbs-1

Types of compound verb

We have already seen in Chapter 6 how simple German verbs add prefixes to take on another meaning. In this and the previous chapter we have come across a lot more instances of such compound verbs which are listed in the table below.

Just as the gender and plural of compound nouns are determined by the final element of the noun, the declension of a compound verb is determined by the final element. Thus although all the compounds of "sehen" are irregular, they are not listed separately in verb tables as it suffices to learn the endings of "sehen" to be able to decline them all!

 

Ich sehe keine schwarzen Wolken (I can't see any black clouds)

Du siehst oft fern (You often watch television)

Anna sieht sich die Talkshow an (Anna watches the talk show)

And although we may only have come across the compounds of verbs such as fangen, lassen and wachen, we know how they will decline if we learn the endings of verbs such as anfangen, verlassen and aufwachen.